Te Amo
by Stratusfied247
Summary: In the middle of a dangerous situation, Diego decides it's time to let his feelings for Georgie known. Now the question is not whether or not he'll tell her, but whether or not she'll reciprocate. And if they'll make it out alive.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: Yeah, another new one from me LoL I promise, though, that I will finish the others. There are a few necessary notes here. As my regular readers know, it's pretty rare these days that I write a story without Luis Alcazar, and this is no exception. Luis is alive and, as you'll see, in Port Charles. Luis's life isn't an actual story plot as much as a peripheral. Any cast changes that may arise as necessary will be mentioned in an author note, either edited into this one, or placed just above the necessary part.

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"I have to tell you something."

"Can't it wait, Diego?" Georgie Jones ducked down. She looked to him with frantic eyes, wild and afraid. "We're kinda in the middle of something. I dont' think it's the best time to have a heart to heart."

"I have to..." Diego Alcazar knew that this could be the last chance he had to tell her everything that he felt. They could very well die, and she would go on forever thinking that he was merely grateful to have her as a friend. Truth was, he absolutely hated it. He couldn't stand watching her and Dillon, knowing that he could treat her better. Knowing that he could give her more. Sure, he had a record, but he was an Alcazar. What could anyone give any woman that an Alcazar couldn't? His father had proven it over and over again with Carly Corinthos. It wasn't Lorenzo's fault that Carly didn't see what was in front of her. His uncle had proven it with Elizabeth Webber, a woman definitely smart enough to grab up the prize that was being offered her.

Luis was right. He couldn't just let her go on thinking that he didn't love her. She couldn't live out what could be the last few minutes of her life thinking that Dillon Quartermaine was the man for her. There was no one that could love her the way Diego could. There was no one who would give as much for her as he would. She had saved his life in prison. He had to tell her. It was just too bad that this was the time that was chosen.

They were pinned down in a warehouse at the docks. Whoever was after Diego had been following them for blocks. It was Georgie's idea to make it to Luis's yacht, or at least the docks. From there, they could get to the launch and make it somewhere. There was always the possibility that the yacht wasn't there, but if nothing else, there was a launch that could take them to Wyndemere. Her sister said that Nikolas Cassadine was a nice enough guy. He and the Alcazars may have had disagreements, but Nikolas wouldn't just turn them away. Besides, he was Elizabeth's best friend. _"If nothing else," Georgie told him, "we can use that. He wouldn't want you telling her that he wouldn't help you. You're basically her nephew, now, right?"_

She had a point, and it was off to the docks they went. Unfortunately, they couldn't make it to the launch. The yacht was there, and hopefully Luis was on board. Hopefully he heard the gunshots. Hopefully he'd show up with a way to get them out of there. That was a lot of hopefully, but it was the only chance they had. Otherwise, they'd both be dead.

But at least she could know before they died.

"I'm gonna make a run for it," Diego said, taking in a deep breath. "I dropped my cell outside the door and maybe I can get it. Obviously, Tio Luis isn't on the yacht. He doesn't hear it. But, in case I don't make it--"

"Would you shut up with that already? We're getting out of here, Diego!"

"We might not and if I die, I can't just..." He shook his head. "I have to tell you, Georgie. I can't just let it end like this. I can't--"

"Would you just say it already? The suspense will kill me before the bullets. What is it, Diego?"

He took in a deep breath. "I love you, Georgie." She blinked at him in surprise. Slowly, without thinking, she started to stand. Bullets came through the windows and Diego grabbed her, jerking her back to the floor. "What are you doing!"

"I don't... I don't know! I... What do you mean you..."

Diego swallowed hard. "I love you. I've loved you since you first stood up for me. My own father was sending me to prison, but you were there for me. And then all the letters... The only one I heard from other than you was my uncle. My father was preoccupied with his life, but you-- You got me through the days in prison, Georgie. I could have survived inside. I didn't have to do what I did, but I had to see you, and I knew that you would never come out to see me. Ten years-- it's too long."

"Diego-- You don't know what you're saying. It's the bullets and the death and stuff. You don't know what you're saying."

"Yeah, I do. I love you. And with the reasons I did what I did, I should hate you. You're the one that locked Sage in that freezer--"

"And I'm sorry about that," she interrupted him. "I'm so sorry about that, and if I could take it back I would. I've apologized to your father, your uncle, to everybody. If I could go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't have left her alone in there. I may not have liked her, but I didn't want her to die."

"I know that. And I'm sorry that I hurt you and your family. I'm sorry that I'm hurting you, now."

"Diego--"

"You're in this because of me," he told her. "You're in trouble because of me, and I need to make that up to you. If I die in the process, then I guess I've finally paid my price."

"Diego, no."

Tears fell from her eyes, streaked her cheeks. Diego reached out and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "Don't cry, Georgie. I just.. I had to tell you.. I love you." He gripped her face and pulled her to him. He kissed her with every bit of Latin passion that he possessed. Everything that his uncle tried to teach him that drove American women wild. He kissed her with what they called wicked abandon in those books that his mother used to read. And when he pulled back from her, he whispered, "_Te amo_."

He turned quickly from her and spotted his phone. Near the door, underneath the window that the last round of shots had come from. Georgie was silent behind him, and Diego wanted to turn and look at her, but he was afraid. Either she would have a look of disgust on her face, angry that he would dare to kiss her. Or else, she would have eyes filled with the same love he felt for her and he wouldn't be able to put himself at risk. He wouldn't be able to risk his own death, leaving her alone inside the warehouse to fend for herself.

So, Diego took a deep breath, rose up enough to get his feet underneath him, and started quickly across the floor.

And Georgie screamed, "Diego, no!"


	2. Chapter 2

He crawled back to her, pulling his body along the floor, and all Georgie could think of was that he had risked his life to save her. He had run for the door, knowing damn well he couldn't have possibly made it. He had tried, and because of that, he was leaving a red streak from the door back to her.

"Diego…" She started to go for him, standing up as high as she dared, but that was too high. A bullet came crashing through the window and Georgie dropped down just before it would have hit her. She felt its heat and the wind of its speed moving over her head. She screamed, then yelled, "Diego!"

"Got it…" His voice was weak, and his arm was even weaker as he lifted his hand to show her the phone. The phone clattered to the floor and fell into pieces. Diego tried to pick it up, but he didn't have the strength in his hands. "Georgie…"

"I… Oh my God." Georgie fumbled with the pieces of phone. They were all slick with Diego's blood and every time she realized what she was touching, they dropped from her hands. Why did they have to build cell phones to fall apart, now? Couldn't they just build one that wouldn't break on impact? That would be a lot easier when people were being shot at.

Of course, the cell companies probably didn't expect that to happen. They expected butterfingers to drop them. They expected angry people to throw them against a wall. Putting them back together just meant that they had to learn a lesson. If you don't want the hassle of piecing your phone back together, then don't drop or throw the stupid thing. But, what about people with bullets flying at them?

Georgie shook her head. What a time to space out. Diego was bleeding… She dropped the phone pieces and scooted to him. By the time she was focused again, he was up, leaning with his back against the steel boxes that they used as cover. Georgie reached out, almost touched him, then jerked her hands back.

She was afraid to touch him, but she had to do something. If he just sat there, he could bleed to death. What was she supposed to do? Put pressure… Georgie surged her hands forward and closed her eyes. She felt blood pushing against her hands as she pressed on the wound, trying to get out. "Pressure," she said, "we need to apply pressure. You'd think I learned something volunteering at the hospital. I should have learned something."

"The phone…"

"I have to apply the pressure." Georgie opened her eyes and stared. Blood pulsed against her palms. It still got out, just not as much, and it snaked its way around her fingers. "Ya know, this is a fine time to tell me you love me." She swallowed hard. Think of something else, anything not to think that he might die. "You couldn't tell me when we could actually talk about it. Oh no. You had to tell me when you'd get out of talking about it."

"It's the Alcazar way," he muttered. He tried to flash her a grin and chuckle. The grin was easy. The laugh made him bend forward in pain. "Don't give a woman… options."

"You're horrible." She shook her head. "I'm horrible, because I shouldn't—This is my fault! Oh my God, this is my fault!" A sudden realization that Georgie was barely grasping and Diego wasn't grasping at all. He looked at her bewildered. "People are after you 'cause you told on somebody to get out of jail. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have done that. You'd have just waited for your dad or your uncle to get you out."

"Call, Georgie."

"I can't. You'll bleed faster if I let you go."

"You have to get out of here." Diego's head rolled to the side. "You have to get out."

"Diego?" His eyes started to close and she screamed, "Diego!" He rolled his head back towards her. His eyes didn't open up anymore, but neither did they close. "Diego, please, open your eyes. Look at me. Talk to me. Somebody will be here for us, soon. There are always people on these docks. Somebody will come."

"My luck…" He groaned. "Never anybody when I need 'em."

"You need me, and I'm here, right? So that's a change in luck." She felt the blood coming faster and she pushed her hands against his stomach. Diego screamed in pain and Georgie cried. She couldn't let up but she didn't want to hurt him either. "Ya know, I heard somewhere that gut shots hurt the worst. So maybe it's not that deep. Or… I think it's closer to the side. Not actually shot in the stomach."

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"I think so." Georgie looked around nervously, her body shaking. The tremors of fear were so great that her hands started to slip. "Somebody should be here soon. Just hang on, alright?"

"Georgie…" He groaned and slumped. "Tell me about Sage."

"What?" She shook her head. "Are you crazy? You're dying and you want me to talk to you about somebody I didn't even like? Okay, so she was your cousin, but Diego, I'm not the best person to talk about her."

"Please?"

She let out a heavy sigh. "You're really making this whole death scene hard." Georgie rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. You wanna know about Sage? She tried to steal Dillon. She had sex with Dillon. And she worked with Dillon's mother to put naked pictures of me on the internet. She had a real talent for screwing up my life. But…" She sighed. "She had a bigger talent for singing, and then that got all messed up. Again, my fault. Sage—She was this bad girl that came to town to avenge her father's murder, a murder that apparently didn't even happen, and she had a lot of anger. We didn't like each other, we pretty much hated each other, but…"

She paused and Diego asked, "But?"

"But," she sighed, "she could have probably been a really good person if things hadn't happened. She probably was a very good person before her father came here. I didn't know Sage, Diego. I wasn't her friend, and she didn't want me to be her friend."

"But you're my friend… After everything I did."

"You said you were sorry. And it wasn't all your fault. And you want me to be your friend. You're in a whole different place, Diego." She started to say something else, but stopped. The door was open. "Oh no," she whispered, "somebody's coming in."

"We need a gun." Diego grunted, then cried out in pain. "I had one. My uncle gave it to me. My father took it away."

"Just great. And… be quiet, huh? Somebody…" She turned and saw a flash of something. Not a gun, but the side of a face in the dying sunlight. It looked familiar. "Nikolas? Nikolas Cassadine?"

"Georgie?" It was Nikolas. He moved closer to her. "What's going on? I was coming over on the launch and heard the gunshots. What—"

Just as Georgie reached over with one hand and jerked Nikolas down, a bullet came flying through the window. She pointed and said, "That is what's going on! Somebody's shooting at us! Diego got shot and I'm trying to hold the wound closed but… He's bleeding everywhere. The phone came apart, but I couldn't… I needed to hold the wound. Please, tell me you have a phone."

Nikolas's answer was to already have the phone to his ear. "This is Nikolas Cassadine. I'm at the docks at Pier 52. I'm with Georgie Jones and Diego Alcazar. We're pinned down by a sniper outside. Alcazar is shot and we need an ambulance right away."

He started to put the phone down and Diego reached out. He gave a phone number quickly then said, "Call my uncle. He'll be here. He'll get us out of this."

"I've already called the police."

"Call my uncle."

Diego's head rolled to the side and this time, his eyes closed all the way. "Diego?" Georgie released the wound to grab both of his shoulders and shake him. "Diego! Diego, wake up! Diego, open your eyes and look at me!" He slouched even more, until he was laying on his side. Georgie flattened him on his back, then jumped on his legs.

Straddling him low at the waist, she pressed both hands down hard on the gunshot. With him laying down, she could see that it was to the side. It was deep and oozing, but it was to the side. It wasn't in his stomach. "Diego, wake up! Dammit, don't you die on me!" She pressed down as hard as she could, screaming for him and crying at the same time. "Diego, wake up! Diego!"


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" Georgie screamed at Rodriguez for the hundredth time, and for a hundred and one, he asked her one more time. "You're the cop. Aren't you supposed to know why people were shooting at us?"

No one was telling her anything, and worse, no one was telling Luis Alcazar anything. As worried as Georgie was about Diego, she was starting to grow more worried about the people in General Hospital. Diego's uncle paced back and forth, occasionally ranting at nurses and doctors that passed by. She didn't always know what he was saying because he switched between English and various other languages, the only one of which she recognized being Spanish, but she got the gist. He was pissed off and somebody was going to feel his wrath.

Somebody should have called Elizabeth Webber. She'd be able to keep him in control. He hadn't said one coherent word since arriving on the scene. As Luis arrived, Diego was being loaded into the ambulance, and whoever was shooting at them had disappeared. From the moment of Luis's arrival, everything had been go, go, go. He yelled at the EMT's. He yelled at Nikolas. He yelled at the cops. And he yelled at Georgie. He yelled in Spanish, so she didn't know what he was saying, but she knew angry when she heard it. It was the same anger that flowed from him, now.

Somebody definitely should have called Elizabeth.

Georgie walked away from Rodriguez and, for some reason, walked towards Luis. She knew she would catch hell for this. For the entire thing. Rodriguez had probably already called Mac. Mac would call Dillon. It would turn into a screaming match, one that she really didn't want to be involved in. So, she guessed that Alcazar was the lesser of two evils.

"Mr. Alcazar?" He whirled on her, and she thought that maybe this wasn't the best of ideas, after all. Maybe she should have just left him alone. "I, um, I'm sorry. I shouldn't say anything."

"No." He shook his head and sighed. At least he didn't scream. "Georgie, correct?" She nodded. "My apologies for yelling at you earlier. My brother—He's better at this. And he needs to come home, now." Luis pulled a phone from his inner jacket pocket, and cursed. "And still, he doesn't return my calls."

"I'm sure it's really important if he's not—" Georgie sighed. "I don't know. I don't have any idea what I'm saying. I, um…" She gulped so hard that it hurt her throat. "Have you heard anything else? They won't tell me, and the cops—"

"No news. As for the police…" Luis turned towards Rodriguez and the mountain of uniforms standing around him. "What have you told the police, Ms. Jones?"

That wasn't good. From Georgie to Ms. Jones? That couldn't have possibly been good at all. Granted, she wasn't on first name basis with him. He was still Mr. Alcazar, as was Lorenzo Alcazar, but Georgie spent enough time in school to know what it meant when adults called you by the last name. It meant that it was lecture time, or worse.

"I… I just said that I don't know." She blinked rapidly. Her head turned quickly from side to side. "They wanna know why somebody would shoot at Diego, and I just tell them that I don't know. Because I don't. Anything that's he's doing, I swear I have no idea what happened. I figure, they'd already guess that it has something to do with the guy he told on to get out of prison, but they're just going on and on. I don't know, Mr. Alcazar. I don't know why, and I won't know why."

"And when your father arrives? The police commissioner can be very persuasive where his daughters are concerned."

"I won't know," she told him, holding her voice steadily. "Diego hasn't told me anything." Not exactly true, but what he told her didn't really have an affect on anything. And she definitely wasn't going to be telling Mac or Dillon that, anyway. "You haven't told me anything." More true. "So, I don't know anything."

"Very good, Georgie. No wonder my nephew is so taken with you. You're a very smart girl."

"He—" Georgie swallowed hard. Her lips rolled, and she almost changed her mind. She almost didn't say anything. But, of all the talents Georgie possessed, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time had always been her best and strongest. "I'm sorry, Mr. Alcazar, but did Diego say anything to you? About me, I mean?"

Luis's brow furrowed. "Do you mean, in the ambulance?"

"I mean, like… ever?" She sighed. "Okay, from what you just said, you know, about him being taken with me? Yeah, okay, between that and what he told me in the warehouse just before he was shot… it sounded like he told someone something and got some advice, and I figure that it's the kind of advice his father wouldn't have given him. Considering, you know, the whole thing with Carly and married women and—" She shook her head. "I'm just wondering if you, maybe, told him to say something to me, and if so, then he did, and I just—I don't know, I'm sorry."

"Georgie, my nephew has said a lot to me. He and his father are not on the best terms right now, and he has transferred his needs for parental concern to me. Anything he may have said about you, I assure you that it was all positive. Diego speaks nothing but the best of you. He values your friendship."

Georgie's mouth opened to respond, but was unable to as Elizabeth ran up. She didn't bother waiting to see what Georgie had to say, probably because she didn't care. She had eyes for one person. "Oh my God, Luis, are you alright? Nikolas called me…" So much for someone needing to call Elizabeth. "…and said that you werej ready to bring down Alcazar wrath on the hospital. He does speak all those languages, by the way. But, oh God, how is Diego? Are you—"

Georgie left them to do whatever they were going to do. The second Elizabeth touched Luis, he visibly lost some of his tension. He sank, he sagged, he even got a hint of a smile, perhaps amused by just how much she cared. It was nice. At least it kept him from destroying the hospital. Besides, Elizabeth was a nurse. She may have had the day off, but she could still get in there and find out more than they could.

And for the next few minutes, Georgie was left alone. It was long enough to look down to her clothes. The blood had long since dried and stuck to her like brown, flaking paste. Her hands were sticky, but not as bloody as they had been before. She tried to wash them in the hospital sink, but it still felt as though she couldn't get them clean. She couldn't get the blood off. She couldn't get Diego off of her. His blood. His words. The smell of his cologne as she initially huddled close to him…

What! This must have been shock. She was losing her mind, because she didn't know what was going on and she had just been through a very intense situation. This was like… It had to be, like, post-traumatic stress. Because otherwise, she wouldn't have been focusing on Diego's smell. She wouldn't still remember it in her nose. She wouldn't—

"Georgie?" She turned, and before she could blink, Mac was on her. Hugging her and holding her close. Why couldn't that have lasted for the rest of the day? "What were you thinking? Do you see now why we keep telling you to stay away from him? Alcazar is dangerous, and it doesn't matter what flavor you're involved with. They can all get you killed."

"Dad, I'm fine."

"You're not fine! You're covered in blood! And you're pale…" He looked into her eyes. "Did someone check you out? Are you sure you didn't get hit?"

"I'm not hit, alright! I… I was holding on to Diego. He got shot, and I had to hold the wound down or he would have bled to death. Don't you understand? He could have died! He could have died and the last thing he said to me…" She shook her head. "He could have died, and now you wanna yell at me? If I weren't there, he'd have been dead!"

Mac's mouth opened and Georgie put her hand over his mouth. "You think about what you're going to say, alright? I love you, Dad, but I don't know if I could forgive you if you say what I think you're going to say." _You'd have been better off if he were dead. _He didn't actually say it, but she knew he was thinking it. "Don't say it."

"Mr. Alcazar?" Georgie turned and was to the doctor before Luis ever reached him. "We're taking Diego to surgery now. It looks like the bullet missed his stomach and intestines, but it did get very far in to his side. We'll need to get in there and repair any damage, and also remove the bullet. It looks good, though." He looked down to Georgie and asked, "Are you the one that applied the pressure?" She nodded. "He's lucky you were there. With no attempt at all to stop the bleeding, I could be out here with something very different to tell you."

Georgie sighed, and she thought that was all she did until she realized she was sitting on the floor. Her body was loose, but shaking. Her head was spinning. And people were trying to get her off the floor. But she had so much relief… She couldn't move. She just sat there and let her body go limp. Because, thankfully, Diego would survive, she had helped, and maybe he would actually tell her what in the hell was going on. And why he said that he loved her.


	4. Chapter 4

"Georgie? Is there anything I can do for you?"

The young girl looked up from where she sat into the bright blue eyes of Elizabeth Webber. A quick glance told her that Lorenzo had joined his brother a few feet away, and the two were discussing something rather heatedly.

"Can you guarantee Diego's going to be perfectly fine?" At the sound of her own petulance, Georgie's face crinkled, even as Elizabeth sat beside her and offered a small, knowing smile.

"Well, I can't do that, but I can guarantee that we'll help you through this."

This we thing… That's all she'd heard from that particular camp. That "we" were grateful that she was there to help Diego. That "we" hope that she's safe and that she doesn't hold anything against Diego. It was like the royal we, and that was fine and normal she guessed, coming from Lorenzo and Luis. But from Elizabeth…

Georgie shook her head. She was horrible. Acting like everybody else in town, as if the Alcazars didn't deserve the same decency and loyalty that everyone else did. Of course, Elizabeth included herself in that we. She was attached to the family, and they treated her as such. She wasn't technically an Alcazar, but she'd been welcomed into the fold. She was one of them, for all intents and purposes.

In the moment, the Alcazar "we" was the only "we" that Georgie had. Mac wasn't helping her through this situation. He and Maxie kept trying to force her to leave the hospital, tell her that she didn't need to be there. It could have very well been her that got shot, and it would have all been Diego's fault. She ended up separating herself because she was getting really tired of telling them that she was an adult, a married woman who didn't need the two of them telling her what to do. Especially when she wasn't letting her husband do it.

Dillon was just… Georgie sighed. Her eyes closed for a second, then opened slowly. Elizabeth still sat there, waiting patiently. No wonder she was such a good nurse. She could just sit there and wait while people sat like logs, saying nothing. "Dillon will probably never talk to me again."

"Oh, honey, it'll be fine." She rubbed Georgie's leg lightly and gave her that smile again. That peaceful grin that was meant to make everything better. It was like the one she'd given Luis, except that all of the "I love you" was taken out. "Diego's your friend. You're upset."

"That's just it. He doesn't want Diego to be my friend. None of them do." She turned towards Mac and Maxie. She thought it strange that they were becoming less "her family" and more "them." She sighed and turned away. "Dillon keeps trying to tell me who I can and can't hang out with, and he's rigid when it comes to Diego."

"Well, you're not a child, are you?" Elizabeth paused for a second, pouting her lips slightly, then shook her head. "Okay, so you're under eighteen, and I guess you're technically a child, but you're married, now. That makes you a woman. An adult woman who doesn't need to be told who she can and can not see."

The very idea of someone disparaging an Alcazar seemed to fluster Elizabeth. Her tone was colder than it was before. Not without feeling at all, but with a restraint of anger. As though she would lash out if she didn't reign it in, and that left only a bitter chill to her words.

"I realize that the Alcazar family isn't exactly loved in this town," Elizabeth told her, "but they're not horrible people. They're just like you and me. They have family, and they have friends. They have people they would do anything for. They just sometimes take the anything a little too far."

"You sound like you've given this speech before."

"More times than I can count," she said, rolling her eyes. "When Luis and I got together, there were a lot of people who tried to tell me to stay away. I've got a lot less friends right now because I won't stand by and listen to people talk about them. They're not bad people and Diego—He's a good kid. He just messed up."

"That's what I keep trying to tell everybody. He knows that he was wrong, and he's sorry for it. He was just… He was confused and misguided. He wouldn't do anything like that again. Now, other things, I don't know, 'cause he comes up with money that he says he's not getting from his father, and yeah, I guess he could be getting it from Luis but I don't know. I just—" Georgie sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, and I really don't care. I know his family isn't necessarily on the up and up, but it's not any of my business. It doesn't make me care about him any less."

"That's good to hear."

"I just wish Dillon…" She sighed. "I wish he would stop."

The argument with Dillon had long since come and gone. The people standing around only saw the initial contact. They only got to see Dillon rush in and hug her tightly. They only saw him dragging her towards the elevator, talking about her changing clothes and being so glad that she was alive, that she wasn't hurt. They didn't see what happened inside the elevator. They didn't see the screaming match when she told him that she wasn't leaving until she had seen for herself that Diego was fine. That she wasn't going to go home just because he told her to.

"_If you really love me, Dillon, you'll just stop. You'll come in here and sit with me. Dad and Maxie don't like Diego anymore than you do, but they're in there and they're not trying to force me to leave anymore. Just sit with me, and then when I know he's fine, when I've seen Diego with my own two eyes, we can leave."_

In the end, Georgie went back upstairs, and she stepped off of the elevator alone. She didn't know where Dillon went, and she didn't care. If he couldn't at least sit there with her, support her in something that was obviously important to her, then he could just… go jump out the window at Kelly's for all she cared.

"You didn't see the fight we had," Georgie said, "and it's only a good thing for me that I didn't tell him what Diego told me. Then he'd have come back in here, but it wouldn't have been pretty. He'd have yelled, and I really don't think that either Alcazar over there would have stood by and listened to what he had to say."

"We all might have ended up in police custody over that one." Elizabeth gave her shoulders a slight shake. "What did he say?"

"He said…" Georgie's head went around quickly, looking to either side. She leaned in closer to Elizabeth and whispered, "He said he was in love with me."

"Oh, dear."

"Exactly!" Others in the waiting area turned towards her, and she could feel Mac's heavy gaze. Sighing, Georgie lowered her voice and leaned in again. "He said it just before he went to get the phone. And he said it again after he was shot, right before Nikolas showed up. I… I don't know how to respond to that."

"You either love him or you don't, Georgie."

"I love Dillon. I love my husband."

"But, maybe, there's something in you that loves him, too. There's gotta be something there for you to defend him the way you do. You're slowly alienating yourself from your family."

"I don't want to do that."

"They're not giving you a choice now, are they?" Her mouth opened to say more, but then she stopped as she saw something behind Georgie. "Nikolas?"

Nikolas knelt down beside them. Here was someone who'd had his own negative run-ins with the Alcazar family, but he wasn't crapping all over them. He was just trying to help find out information. Of course, he was one of Elizabeth's best friends, one of the few she had left from her pre-Alcazar days, but still…

"I found out some information that I thought you would like to share with them." His "them" sounded a lot like Georgie's, she thought, when she was referring to her family. "Diego's still in surgery, but it looks good. They expect to be able to close up and have him out soon."

"Nikolas, thank you." Elizabeth grabbed his hands and smiled. "I appreciate this."

"I'd do anything for you, Elizabeth. I just happen to have perks here, giving them the majority of their money and all." He looked to Georgie as he stood up and lightly touched her shoulder. "Don't worry. From what I hear, you did really good out there. Be proud of that."

Nikolas gave a nod towards Elizabeth, and then was gone. Georgie let her body go as she sighed with relief, falling to slouch completely in her chair. "Thank God," she said softly. "If he were worse…"

"You wouldn't know what you would do."

"Exactly."

"Between that and your fierce defending of him, Georgie, I think you really need to think about what you're going to say to Diego the next time he tells you how he feels. Because I think you just might feel more than you're allowing yourself to feel."


	5. Chapter 5

It was nearly an hour later before doctors came out to the waiting area. In that time, Elizabeth had stayed by Georgie's side. She didn't fill the time with useless words, just smiled softly when brown eyes met blue.

Luis and Lorenzo wrapped up whatever they had been discussing and joined the two of them on the hard plastic chairs. The four were sitting in silence when the sound of the doctor clearing his throat gathered their attention.

Again, Georgie was standing before the doctor long before Diego's family actually made it there. From the side, Georgie heard a huff and she knew it was from Maxie. She was used to that sound by now, and equally used to ignoring it. Maxie wasn't important right then and, honestly, it was about time that she learned that she wasn't the most important person in the world. Georgie wouldn't admit it out loud, but right then, Diego Alcazar was the only one of importance.

"Diego made it through surgery. We were able to remove the bullet, but he lost a lot of blood before helped arrived, and he would have lost a lot more if Mrs. Quartermaine hadn't applied so much pressure."

That struck her odd, hearing herself referred to as Mrs. Quartermaine. It made her realize how few times she'd actually used that name with anyone… and that earlier, when Luis Alcazar turned his uncertain gaze towards her, he'd called her Ms. Jones, and she hadn't corrected him.

"He's very weak right now," the doctor continued, "but he's awake. It'll be a while before Diego's running any marathons or dodging anymore bullets, but he won't have any lasting effects. He's a very lucky young man."

Georgie ignored what she found to be a very condescending tone as the doctor spoke of dodging bullets, mostly because she was impatient and wanted to see Diego. "Can I see him? I mean…" She stopped and turned to the Alcazars standing behind her. Georgie sighed. "I guess I should wait, but… I really need to see Diego."

And in that way, Georgie unintentionally started an argument. As his father, Lorenzo wanted to be his first visitor, of course. Both Luis and Elizabeth seemed to think that was a bad idea, considering the relationship that father and son had as of late, but only Luis actually said anything. The twins started to argue in rapid fire Spanish and Elizabeth rolled her eyes. She looked at Georgie and groaned. "I think I'm gonna have to get Nikolas to translate for me."

"I can just wait," Georgie said, though the way she twisted her hands and the tremor in her body had to show that she really didn't want to do that. "His father should go first."

"Actually," Luis said, "you should go because you need to go home and change into your own clothes. You're covered in blood, and I'm sure my brother would agree." As Luis turned back to Lorenzo, Georgie looked down to herself. Her bloody clothes were gone, but only because Elizabeth had gotten her a pair of her own scrubs from her locker and taken her to change. Georgie refused to leave, and Maxie refused to go get her some clothes.

"Luis…"

"You know that you're probably the last person Diego wants to see, and she is the first. Think of your son, Lorenzo."

The other Alcazar sighed. "Your brush with death has given you too much common sense." He groaned and turned to Georgie. "I'll only allow this because you saved his life. Cassadine may have made the phone call, but he would have bled to death if you hadn't been there to place pressure on his wound."

"Mr. Alcazar—" Her mouth flopped open and she wasn't sure what to say. Here was a man that she had tried over and over again to get out of the peripheral of her life. Dillon had spent so long obsessed with working for Alcazar and all she could do was beg him not to give her boyfriend a job. Now, in the midst of tragedy, Georgie could only be grateful that he was there. And for a family she had wanted to be so far away from, she now only found herself moving closer and closer to it.

"Georgie." She turned and jumped back. When had Mac walked up to her? And why was Maxie riding his coat tails so closely? Whenever it had happened, Georgie was glad that her penchant for saying the first thing that came to mind had been restrained. Her delayed response wouldn't have gone over too well with the police commissioner standing right there.

She had already told Mac the same thing she'd told Rodriguez. She had no idea why people were shooting at them. There was all kind of weirdness going on in the city. How was she supposed to know what happened in the Port Charles underworld?

But, she did kind of know. Or at least she thought she knew. She wanted to tell Lorenzo that she was sorry. That people wanted to kill Diego because of the snitching that got him out of prison, and that he would have waited if it weren't for her. If he hadn't been so in love with her. If he hadn't needed to see her. If she had just told Dillon to stuff it and gone to visit Diego in prison.

No, that wouldn't have gone over well at all, on so many levels. The police already knew that people wanted Diego dead. Mac had already told her as much, but to actually say it felt like she would be telling them something that might get Diego in trouble. Maybe they would think that he was involved with something on the outside, which they probably did anyway, and they would keep on until she spilled about more than just the shooting. About the money that Diego had that she didn't think came from his uncle. About other things— Loose lips sink ships and, sometimes, Georgie had the loosest lips in the world.

But, she also didn't want anyone else to know what Diego had told her. Georgie didn't know how she was handling it herself, so for others to know… It was bad enough that she had told Elizabeth. That was one more person to have an opinion on the situation. She was the one that almost evened the sides. She had Mac, Maxie and Dillon telling her to stay away from Diego. On the other side, she had Luis telling Diego to say things and Elizabeth telling her to think about how she felt. And there was just her, in the middle, not knowing anything. Mac and Maxie knowing that Diego was definitely in love with her would have just made the situation all the worse.

"Georgie," Mac said again, then sighed. "If you're going, then go."

She thought that maybe she should thank him, but she didn't want to. He wasn't doing it because he saw how much she needed to see Diego. Mac was saying it because he wanted her to leave the hospital, and short of dragging her out, that was the only way she was going.

Sighing, Diego turned towards the doctor and said, "Mr. Alcazar said I could go, so could you please take me to Diego?"

The doctor nodded, and led Georgie off. She turned back as they reached the corridor, before turning down the hall, and saw Mac approaching the Alcazars plus Elizabeth. All three had the same look. They had nothing to say and nothing that Mac did would make them say anything. She could barely hear Mac as he told them that he would have to speak with Diego about the situation and, suprisingly, she heard Elizabeth clearly as she snapped, "You'll just have to wait, Mac. So, back off."

She stood there, attached to the Alcazars, thoroughly entrenched in their affairs. Luis even cracked a smile. He looked proud of her. Elizabeth Webber stood firmly with the Alcazars, and that last vision was frightening to Georgie as she turned and ran to catch up with her escort. Frightening, because she could see herself in that very same position way too easily. And even worse, she'd be just as good at it.


	6. Chapter 6

Standing in the doorway, she very nearly changed her mind. In fact, she did change her mind. This was ridiculous. There was no point in actually going into the room, anyway. She wanted to make sure that Diego was alright, and she'd seen that with her own eyes. He had wires attached to him and monitors beeped around him, but he was alive. That was good enough for her. That was good enough for anybody.

Georgie turned away from the door, ready to go tell an Alcazar that they could go in with him, but she couldn't do it. Not when he called her name. Weak, and barely audible, the word was still there. Soft, but gravelly. Low, but definitely there. "Georgie."

She sighed and turned around. This wasn't the time to ask him any questions. Fresh out of surgery wasn't when one should be forced to talk about things that were said when death was imminent. He couldn't possibly have meant it, anyway, so there was no point in bringing it up. No need to embarrass him.

But, Diego had stopped her, and she found herself in the room. First, she was at the door, then it seemed like she blinked and she was halfway across the room. Another blink, and she was standing next to the bed, her hands tightly gripping the steel bars that made sure he didn't roll out of the bed.

"I, uh, I just wanted to make sure you were alright," Georgie told him. "Your dad and your uncle are waiting out there, and so is Elizabeth. There's just a whole section of the Diego fan club out there waiting to see you, and I should probably let them get in here 'cause it's really not all that fair of me to take up all your time."

"Georgie, don't." Diego sighed. His voice sounded a little stronger, but still nothing like she was used to hearing from him. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's fine." Yeah, right. Wasn't fine at all. Definitely not, especially if Dillon or Mac found out. And Georgie was sure that she'd start babbling at some point and they would find out. And then all hell would really break loose. She would be wishing for gunfire to erupt.

"I mean, you thought we were gonna die." Georgie shrugged. "We all say really bad things when situations are intense, and I don't know that you can get any more intense than almost dying. Don't sweat it."

"I meant it, Georgie." Diego sighed and his eyelids fluttered. "That's not why I said that I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Then, uh…" Georgie gulped. "Why?"

"Because of this. Yeah, I thought we might die. And yeah, that's a really safe time to say something like that. But now…" He sighed. "Now, I'm alive, and you're uncomfortable. I'll lose your friendship, won't I?"

"Diego… I don't know what you want me to say. I don't know what I'm supposed to say. I talked to Elizabeth and she gave me this whole thing about searching my heart and thinking what I was gonna say, but I still don't know what I should say. I can't just say that I love you."

"Because you don't."

Because she didn't know. She hadn't thought about Diego in that way. He'd been a friend all along. He was this guy that she knew, and he was one of the gang for so long. Then that whole stalker thing came up, and then prison and-- It was all so damned complicated. There wasn't a spot in there where she could say that she felt one way or another about Diego. There wasn't a single, solitary moment in time when she could say that she knew exactly what her feelings were towards him, because she'd never even thought about feelings in that sense of the word.

"Diego…" Her mouth hung open, then her bottom jaw flopped up and down. Why was it always so hard to find the right words when they were most important? What cosmic being was out there just trying to make her life as hard as possible? It just came in and … WHOOPS! There went all the words that she once could access.

"I've ready your letters," she finally said, "and I've reread them, and reread them again and… I don't know. I feel something when I'm with you, Diego, but I don't know what that is. I mean, is it partially because everybody keeps telling me that I'm not supposed to be around you? Or is just being around you?"

"I don't know, Georgie."

"You're not supposed to know. That was a rhetorical question." She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, okay? I don't know what I feel and I wish I did. I wish I could say one way or another what was going on, because then at least I'd have an idea of how to handle things. Right now? I don't know what I should do."

Diego's head rolled to the side and he said, "You should go home to Dillon and forget that I ever said anything."

"Oh, no you don't." She stomped her foot. "Don't you turn away from me after you made me talk about it. You look at me, Diego." He kept his head turned away and she grunted. Then she stomped again. "Diego Alcazar, you turn and look at me right now."

"Just go home, Georgie. You can leave, no problem. Just tell my uncle to come in here, would you?"

"I will not. You… You can't just keep doing this to me. Saying things, and then nothing. Do you realize that I haven't left this hospital once? Elizabeth gave me scrubs to wear 'cause I wouldn't go home and get any. And Dillon… Oh, don't get me started on Dillon. My wonderful husband that couldn't just sit here with me. I stayed here and now that you've brought this whole thing up again, you just wanna send me away. Well, that's not how it works, buddy. So, just… look at me."

"If this is the last time I see you, then I can't."

"Diego, please." Georgie reached out and her fingertips grazed his chin. She gripped lightly and forced him to look at her. His eyes were wide and wet. He breathed heavily through parted lips. "I wish I could say that I loved you."

"It's fine."

"It's not. I also wish I could just say that I don't love you, at all. I… I don't know. I stood there watching Elizabeth stand firm with the Alcazars and all I could think was that I could do that. Everybody wants life to be a big us versus them thing, and I was standing there, watching her as one of them and thought that I could be one of them, too. I don't know… I don't know what that means. But, I do know that I can't just walk away from you. I can't say that I love you, but I can't say that I don't, either."

Diego touched her hand and a shiver ran through her body. He didn't grip or wrist, or stroke her skin. He just pressed his fingertips against her hand while she held his face. "I don't know what else to say."

"Neither do I," she said with a sigh. Her hand fell to where he touched her, but he didn't pull back. And neither did she. Georgie just stayed her place and looked back up to his glistening eyes. His dark, drowning eyes that seemed to pull her closer and closer, when she knew that she should just run farther and farther away. If she had any sense at all, she wouldn't look anymore. She would just run and never look back.

Apparently, Georgie didn't have as much common sense as most people gave her credit for. She stayed right there.


	7. Chapter 7

"We've had this discussion more than once, Diego."

"I know, and I don't want to have it again." Diego put both hands to his face and groaned. "Doesn't being in the hospital get me a break?"

"Being near death didn't get me a break from your father's lectures, so no, surgery that you'll fully recover from doesn't get you one. There are things that you need to learn, Diego, and there's no better time than the present."

When the lectures and lessons began, Diego always wondered if it would have been better to just do what his father told him to do. Keep his head down and stay out of trouble. This business was too messy for him, and he didn't need to be a part of it.

But, this wasn't just about any of the Alcazar businesses. It was about being an Alcazar, at all. He wasn't raised as they were, and for some reason, Luis thought that he needed to make up for lost time. Not only did he have to earn his spot within the businesses, he had to learn his spot in the family. He had to do things the Alcazar way, and so far, he hadn't done much of that.

Except for Georgie. That had been a lecture filled with disgust in the beginning. He was too much like his father, Luis told him. Of course, he would fall for the woman he was supposed to exact his revenge against. Just as Carly Corinthos was supposed to be used against Sonny, Georgie was supposed to be used against Dillon Quartermaine. Obviously, there was something wrong with his brother's bloodline.

Over and over again, the same things.

"You've spoken to the police. What have you told them?"

"Ya know, Pop came in here and actually gave a damn about how I was doing. Aren't you supposed to do something like that, too?"

"I already know how you're doing. I talked to the doctors. And as far as your father's concerned, Lorenzo only has to believe one thing and that is that you were made a target by snitching. He doesn't know what we know, now does he?"

Diego groaned. "No, _tio_, he doesn't." He sighed and shook his head. "Though, I'm pretty sure that's what it was about. That's all I said to the cops, because they knew that already. Somebody wants me dead for opening my mouth. Not like they care, anyway."

"You keep spending all of your time with the commissioner's daughter, they'll care. You make her a target, Diego."

"You don't think I know that?" He sighed and shook his head. "I pretty much figured that I would die, so she wouldn't have to deal with me or anything that I said. Now… I'm not about to tell her that I don't love her just to keep her away, and I'm not going to stop working for you, either."

"Good. Despite what some people in this town would like to believe, we don't have to sacrifice everything for the love of a woman. And you deserve your place in this family. I've already made a few calls, and it shouldn't be long before I can take you with me out of the country. You need to meet the people we deal with and get an idea of how they are to be handled."

"Pop's not gonna like this."

"I don't really care what he likes. I may have given up my need for revenge on that girl of yours for locking Sage in that room, but I've not completely given up the anger over your father's botched revenge."

Diego was silent for a moment. The last part of his sentence had to do with him personally. Diego had overheard them talking more than once, arguing because Lorenzo had never avenged the near murder of his brother. He took care of things where Sage was concerned, the direct cause of her death, but there was still that lingering resentment. Before Diego was born, Lorenzo's attack had been avenged before he even woke up. When Luis woke up, nothing had happened.

"I know you're angry with Georgie," he said slowly, "but she didn't mean for that to happen."

"My problem isn't with her. My problem is with her husband." Luis pushed himself up from his chair, then limped slowly around the room. In the privacy of the hospital room, he leaned heavily on the cane that he would be forced to always carry. When he left the security of the room, however, he would stand a little taller, force a more even walk to hide his weakness.

"Long before Sage's death, her heart was broken, and I acknowledge my part in all of that. If I knew that I would survive, I would have sent for her and told her the truth. But, she didn't need to suffer my death twice. But Dillon Quartermaine… He destroyed what was left of her fragile heart, and for that I will not forgive."

"Luis?"

"Do you really love this girl, Diego? With everything that you have, with this heart that was filled with enough love that you would destroy lives for a cousin that you never met… Do you love her?"

"I…" Diego blinked. This was a new conversation. Sure, Luis had told him over and over again to go after what he wanted. He told him that he couldn't let love pass him by. It didn't matter who he had to take her from or what he had to do to get her. If he loved her, then he should have her. But, this… When Luis turned to him, there was something else in his eyes. Something more than a simple concern over his nephew's love life. There was a bitterness in there, and something else that Diego couldn't name.

"I love her, uncle," he said softly. "I love her like I've never loved anyone else. She's the reason that I put myself at risk. I knew you were working on something, but I couldn't wait. She couldn't visit me in prison, and I didn't want her to see me there, anyway. I love her, uncle."

"Then, take her, Diego." He turned his back to him, then said, "She feels something for you. I could see it in her eyes. And she has the same fire within her as Elizabeth. She has that spark, that defiance. She defied everyone to stay here, to be sure of your health. I saw the look in her eyes when she looked down at your blood on her clothes." He turned back to Diego and said, "And I also saw the look on her husband's face when she didn't easily walk with him onto the elevator."

"This isn't just about helping me, is it? It's about hurting Dillon."

"And you care?" Luis smirked. "You want him to suffer as much as I do. But, you have love on your side. You're not going after his wife solely for revenge. You're going after her because you love her. So, if you love her, take her."

"And Dillon?"

"If Dillon Quartermaine is hurt in the process, then all the better."


	8. Chapter 8

**_Author's Note: Italicized parts indicate the recollection of a conversation had in the past.

* * *

_**

"_All I asked you to do was be there for me, Dillon. To sit there with me and wait. Mac did it. Hell, even Maxie did it, and you know that she's got no use for Diego. But, she sat there. What did you do? You tried to drag me out of the hospital, and then you left. You left me there by myself when I needed your support!"_

"_You didn't need anything but Diego."_

"_Oh, don't give me that, Dillon. We're not… I don't know what to do with you. I really don't. We used to be able to talk, ya know? We had problems, we had issues…"_

"_Again, issues because of an Alcazar. They're the root of our problems."_

"_Don't you start on the Alcazars. You're the one that got us involved with them in the first place. Or, have you forgotten that now that Luke has let you latch on to him? You were the one that wanted to work for Lorenzo Alcazar. You're the one that cheated on me with Sage Alcazar."_

"_And you're the one who's risking her life and our marriage for Diego Alcazar."_

Georgie looked out on the water and shook her head. The blood had been cleared away. The police were long gone and had taken their crime scene tape with them. No one was dead, and it was just an Alcazar anyway, so what did it really matter who did it?

Georgie groaned. She was so angry with everything and everybody. Angry with the police for not really caring. Angry with her friends and family for abandoning her when she needed their support. Angry with Dillon for not understanding.

She should have been at home, if she knew what home was supposed to be. She could go back to Mac, but he would just harp on her. He would make the whole thing uncomfortable, and Maxie would probably decide that she was going to stay there the night just so she could get in on it, too. Diego was dangerous, and this just proved it. She was going to die if she stayed around him. "You're a married woman, Georgie. You should be focusing on your husband, not Diego Alcazar." A bunch of garbage that she'd heard over and over again, and was tired of hearing.

Then there was Kelly's. The short while she'd been there, she hadn't really thought of it as home. It was where she and Dillon ended up because they had nowhere to go. It was where the tension grew because Diego was staying right down the hall. It was a lot of places, but it certainly wasn't home.

She'd tried to go back there, though. Escaping the drowning pool of Diego's dark eyes, Georgie had run back to Kelly's, run back to her husband, and run directly into an argument. Dillon couldn't just ask her how she was doing. He couldn't just hold her and let all the fear of the past few hours wash away in his arms. He had to fight with her. He had to fight because she'd been more concerned about seeing Diego alive and well than she had been about going home with him. It didn't matter that her friend was hurt. All that mattered was that Dillon hated him.

"_Did it ever occur to you that this is all a trick?"_

"_What?" Georgie shook her head. "Dillon, what on earth are you talking about?"_

"_Diego. This whole.. whatever. He's trying to put a wedge between us. Why? Because he values your friendship? Probably not."_

"_Okay, first of all, Diego's not putting the wedge there, you are by being an insufferable child. You're trying to tell me who I can and can not see, and that's not your decision to make. You don't get to tell me that. And second… I'll have you know that my frienship is worth a lot. Because I'm loyal to my friends, and when everyone else is horrible to you, that's important."_

"_Come on, Georgie! He—"_

"_He made a mistake, Dillon! Everyone here has made mistakes! You know, Uncle Mac wasn't always the best guy in the world. I've heard the stories. And Luke Spencer… don't get me started on your idol. Everybody deserves a second chance, but none of you want to give it. Hell, Dillon, I locked Sage in that room. I'm the reason she's dead, and Mr. Alcazar gave me a second chance. Why doesn't Diego deserve one?"_

"_Okay, see…" Dillon's hands shot out, palms towards her. "…that's the thing. You've been forgiven, but I haven't. Not by Luis Alcazar. I see the way he looks at me. He's pissed off at me and… I don't know why. I tried to be Sage's friend."_

"_You slept with Sage, led her on, used her uncle's money, then dropped her when it was made perfectly clear that Brook was gonna be the star, not her. Yeah, I had my part in there. I did a lot of messing up."_

"_Exactly! But, I don't deserve forgiveness. You can see it in his face. I did something to his daughter so I have to be punished. So, why not think that he's using Diego to punish me? Take you away from me and I have nothing. I've been duly punished, all in the name of Alcazar."_

"_You're paranoid! And… you're just stupid! This has nothing to do with you! Diego…" She stopped and shook her head. "Diego is my friend because I'm the only one who will be his friend. You don't have a problem making friends, so it's no big deal to you. But, I've been on the outside, and I know what it feels like. I did that once to Sage, and I'm not about to do it again to Diego."_

"_You know what? You sound like them. Defending him and telling us that he's really a good person. And evading the actual issue here."_

"_And what exactly is the issue that I'm evading?"_

"_That you're forsaking your husband and the life that we said we were going to have together for him. For an Alcazar."_

"_You know what, Dillon? We didn't say we were going to have a life together. We said we were going to have a death together, and that death didn't happen."_

She couldn't believe she actually told him that. Sure, Georgie had thought it when things got hard between them, but she never thought she'd actually say it. She loved Dillon. She married him because she loved him…

But, she did marry him because he was dying. And she knew that was the only reason that he even bothered to ask her. They both thought that Dillon was going to die, and for a few hours, they would be husband and wife. They would imagine their entire future within the span of a few hours, and then it would be over. She would grieve. He would be gone. But, in the end, she'd have only had that memory of their time together.

Still… She shouldn't have said that to him. But, it was either that, or tell him that Diego was in love with her. And that she wasn't sure that she didn't love him, back. That would have been even worse to say. What she told him only left him staring after her as she turned and walked out of the apartment. Saying the latter would have brought on a whole new screaming match.

As it were, there was so much she wanted to say to him. She wanted to know what it meant that Dillon thought Diego couldn't really want to be her friend. It had never crossed her mind that he was just trying to punish Dillon for Sage. Sure, she could buy that as a reason behind Luis's fervent pushing of their relationship, but Diego… She'd been looking in his eyes when he said he loved her, and there was so much truth there. She couldn't believe that he had ulterior motives.

"Georgie?"

She turned so quickly that she slipped and almost fell backwards. Lorenzo Alcazar reached out and took her arm, pulling her upright. She knew the difference between Lorenzo and Luis just because of the cane that Luis always had with him. Sometimes he seemed to have it just for show. Others, when he probably didn't think anyone was watching, while Elizabeth made him lean on her, Georgie was pretty sure that he really needed it.

But, no cane meant Lorenzo. Diego's father. The one person she hadn't really had a conversation with at the hospital. "Mr. Alcazar… I, um, thank you." She stood up straight and folded her arms over her stomach. The air was warm enough, but a breeze chilled her as it came off the water.

"You're welcome." He nodded, then furrowed his brow. "I thought you were going home to change."

She looked down at her clothes and sighed. Still in Elizabeth's scrubs. Dillon couldn't even give her the chance to put her own clothes on before he started. "I didn't get to stay home long enough for that." She sighed and shook her head. "I, um, I thought you would be with Diego."

"The silence was threatening to strangle us both. My son still has little use for me these days, and I can't really blame him." Lorenzo folded his arms for a second, then let them drop. "He's with his uncle."

"I'm sorry?" She shook her head. "Not a question. I am sorry. I know that Diego loves you, and something in him has to understand your reasons for what you did."

"But you don't. I can hear it in your voice as plainly as when Diego tells me directly."

"I…" She shook her head. "It's not my place to ask. That's between you and Diego."

Lorenzo turned away from her and Georgie saw his shoulders drop. He kept his back to her for a short while, then turned back. His face was blank, covering up any emotions that he felt uncomfortable conveying. "I thought that it would show him why he needed to stay clean. Help him understand the dangers of my way of life. I wanted better for Diego."

"You don't have to tell me this."

"No, I don't. But, I will because my son loves you."

"Mr. Alcazar?"

"He hasn't told me this, but I know. He's spoken with Luis, among other things. The two of them seem to believe that I'm blind. Just because I turn a blind eye doesn't mean that I'm completley blind of them. Diego loves you, Georgie, and I don't know that it's a good thing. You're married, and I don't want his heart to break as mine did."

"Mr. Alcazar, I… I don't know what you want me to say to that. I… I don't know what I feel for Diego. He told me he loves me and I'm just left to wonder what's going on."

"More than anything, however, he values your friendship. You're the only friend he has outside of our family, and he needs that. He deserves that. Diego doesn't deserve to suffer for my mistakes or for my brother's. Whatever you think of our family, don't let that color how you see Diego. He's a good man."

"I don't think anything of your family," she said with some confusion. "I don't mean that I don't think anything of you as in you're nothing. I mean, I haven't made any judgments. I've done enough of that. It's time to stop. Everybody deserves a second chance."

"Even Alcazars?"

"Sometimes…" She sighed. "Sometimes, I think especially Alcazars. Because everybody in this town has done wrong, and you're the only ones that aren't given that second chance. Mr. Alcazar, Diego's my friend, and he's not going to stop being my friend. I don't know for sure what else he'll ever be to me, but he'll always be my friend."

"Thank you." He turned to walk away, then stopped. Lorenzo turned back and sighed. "Please, be careful of Diego's heart. He's young and as you can tell, he throws everything he has into something when he believes that it's worth it. The way his uncle encourages him… He believes that you're worth it. And as much as I have my reservations about his pursuit of you, I can't help but believe that you may be worth it, too. It's not everyone who would stand up for him, or who cares too much for our family in general. So, please, Georgie, don't disappoint. Whether you return Diego's love, or you only remain his friend, be consistent, and be true. Not just to Diego, but to yourself, as well."

And then, he walked away. Whatever reason he had to come to the docks was gone, and Georgie was left there alone, thinking of her own reasons for coming. Her eyes moved to the side and she could see the doorway in which Diego had been shot. His blood was gone from the wood, but the red stain was still there. Right there, just after he said he loved her, and just before he said it again. Everything changed in that one building.

Georgie sighed and shook her head. This was all too hard. She was seventeen. Life wasn't supposed to be this difficult. She should have been planning for prom and preparing for graduation. She wasn't supposed to be questioning a marriage that everyone told her she shouldn't have walked into in the first place. She shouldn't have been searching a heart that was being pulled in too many directions.

And most definitely, she absolutely should not have been thinking that she probably deserved a lot more out of life than what she was getting. And that Dillon wasn't the one that would be able to give that to her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Three days later…**

"Elizabeth? Um… I need to talk to you." Georgie folded and refolded her hands, over and over, thumping lightly against the nurse's station counter. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't bother you. You're working. And I should be in school. If Mac finds out I ditched, he'll kill me. Doesn't matter that I don't live with him or not, ya know? So, um… yeah, maybe I should just go to school."

"Georgie, relax." Elizabeth covered both of Georgie's hands with her own, effectively stopping the rolling and folding. "We can talk. Is this about Diego?"

"Um, sorta? Probably? Yeah?" She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what I'm doing, anymore, and you're so biased, I know I shouldn't be asking but… You're the only one I can talk to, ya know?"

"Okay." She nodded slowly, then her hands were gone as she walked around the desk and stepped down. "Come on, let's sit down."

Elizabeth led her across the floor, her hand on the small of her back. This was something she should have been talking to her mother about. Something she probably would have talked to her about if it didn't mean a call to Texas. She needed to see someone's face about this. A long distance phone call wasn't going to do it. So, unless Felicia Jones was going to bring grandma up to live with them any time soon, she had Elizabeth Webber.

But, she was the right one to talk to, wasn't she? Elizabeth was in a similar situation. Okay, so she hadn't had love thrown at her while bullets were firing, but… she was in a relationship with an Alcazar. And it couldn't have been easy for her to go to Luis from Lucky Spencer. But, then again, she hadn't been with Lucky when she started seeing Luis. They had already broken up. They weren't married. Maybe she wasn't the one to talk to, after all.

Then, who was?

"Georgie?" She blinked up at her. "I've been trying to get your attention for a couple of minutes, but you haven't said anything. I didn't think you were gonna sit for a minute there."

"I'm sorry. I was just…" She shook her head. Way to space, Georgie. "Um, I need to ask you something. And I need you to be completely honest with me, because I've spent the last three days trying to figure this out and nothing's coming. I just keep getting myself giving me this look like I know that I shouldn't even be thinking like this and—"

"Georgie!" Elizabeth shook her head. The call was enough to get Georgie to stop. "What do you need to ask me?"

"Is it completely horrible that twice, already, I've almost told Dillon that I want a divorce?"

There. She'd said it, and she felt just as bad saying it out loud as she did actually thinking it. What kind of person did it make her? A guy said he was in love with her and she decided she didn't want to be married to her husband, anymore? She had made a commitment to Dillon…

No, that wasn't sound logic at all. That commitment wasn't even made in the best intentions, and she knew that. When she said 'til death do we part, she thought that it was going to last a few days. They had a deathbed marriage, and which had turned into a dying relationship.

"See, we keep fighting," she went on, "and that's all we've done since we got married. Then, when Diego came back, it just got work. Then he told me… He said what he said, ya know, and I started thinking about it. Now, I don't know that I'm in love with him. I'm not saying that."

"But," Elizabeth said for her, "you should have the opportunity to consider all of your options."

"Exactly!" She sighed heavily. "Liz, I'm seventeen years old. This is supposed to be the best time of my life, but right now, it's gotta be the absolute worst. And it's not like it's any better for Dillon, either. We're not happy together, and as much as I hate to admit that our parents were right, they were. We're too young to be together. And yeah, sometimes people marry their high school sweethearts, and they die together seventy years later. But most of the time, they just get divorced. And this… He's the only boyfriend I've ever had."

Elizabeth looked at her with gentle eyes, caring eyes. That's why Georgie came to her, because biased or not, she at least seemed to care about her and the stress that it put on her to make these decisions. Everybody else just wanted her to end up on their side. No one else actually cared about Georgie in the moment. They just cared about Georgie doing what they wanted her to do.

Elizabeth leaned to the side, propping her elbow up on the back of the sofa. She rested her head on the back of her hand and said, "Ya know, I thought Lucky and I would be together forever. We had all these plans. We were even set to leave. The day after graduation, we were gonna move to New York. It was like we had this whole future, and at the time, I didn't think anything could change that. And then… Then, Lucky died."

Her voice cracked, and Georgie felt so bad. She shouldn't have been making her talk about this. "Liz, I'm sorry. I shouldn't—"

"It's fine. It's just the memory, ya know?" She sighed and shook her head. "Lucky died, but he came back and I thought it was the biggest gift in the world. Now, don't get me wrong. Lucky and I weren't always together. I married Ric and that was a disaster. And then there was Zander and…" She shook her head again. "That's not the point. The point is that Lucky and I eventually found our way back to each other. And again, I thought it was the biggest gift in the world."

"But, you're not with Lucky, anymore."

"Lucky wasn't the same when he came back. Nothing was the same. We had all of these problems after he first came back, then when that was gone it was just—all the fun was gone, ya know? I mean, yeah, we're adults and we have to be mature sometimes. But not all the time. He wasn't the Lucky that I fell in love with when I was sixteen. He was this guy with Lucky's name, but he wasn't Lucky."

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, and I really don't mean to insult anybody but…" She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Luis Alcazar is… fun?"

Elizabeth's laugh was loud and clear. "Luis isn't as cold as people might think. Do you know how we met? How we actually met?" Georgie shook her head and Elizabeth said, "I was at the docks with Cameron, and he fell in. Before I could even start to jump, Luis was in the water. I didn't even know he was there, but he jumped in. Bad leg and all, he dove in there and he saved my little boy."

"That's… heroic. I never thought—"

"Neither did I," she said, "but, then again, there's a lot about Luis that no one knows until they get to know him. The same for Lorenzo. I know that they can both come off as very cold to people, but that's how they protect themselves. The Alcazar men seem to believe that showing too much leaves them too open, but if they really trust you, they'll let you see. And you know what? I think that Diego is very similar."

"He… He tries to act like it doesn't bother him. That people look at him the way they do, ya know? But I know that it does."

"Diego learns a lot from his uncle, and one thing that he's learned is to hold his feelings inside. Do you know what it must have taken for him to actually admit that he loves you?"

"A lot?"

"A ton. I haven't heard Lorenzo tell that to anyone other than his son since that whole mess with Carly. And Luis has only said it to me once, and he thought I was asleep. Admitting love can leave you open to pain. It's a pain that most of us are willing to take. It's one that they're not so sure about."

"I do still love, Dillon, ya know."

"But, is he the only one that you'll love forever?" Elizabeth reached out and gently touched her hand. "Can you say for certain that you don't have any love at all for Diego?"

"He's not the same guy I married, Liz. I mean, yeah, it's Dillon but… It's like we got married, and he just… He disappeared. And he treats me like I'm a child, just because I'm in high school, but he's only a year older than me. He's not that much more mature."

"It's good that you can recognize that, but it's not what I asked you."

"I know. I was trying to avoid the question." Georgie sighed. "But, no, I can't. I just—I feel something when I'm with him."

"Could you just walk away from him? If the only way for certain to save your marriage was to never see Diego, again… Could you really do that?"

Georgie took a long time in answering. Long enough to see doctors come in, have conversations with the nurses, then leave to be replaced by more doctors. But, finally, she did have an answer. An answer that wasn't going to be good for the short marriage that she had been in.

"No," she said softly, slowly dropping her head. "And I know that's what Dillon wants me to do. We're building on this ultimatum and…" She lifted her head and with wet, dripping eyes said, "If I have to choose between a life with Dillon but without Diego or never seeing him again…"

She quieted, and Liz said softly, "Then, Georgie, I think you have your answer."


	10. Chapter 10

"I didn't think you'd be here."

Georgie looked up at Dillon through tear-blurred eyes. They weren't falling anymore, but had been since she first made her decision. When she realized that this was over, that she had failed and she wasn't going to be able to make up this one, she dropped down on the bed and cried. She shed every tear she had for her husband and her brief stint as Mrs. Quartermaine.

She had considered not being there. In fact, she'd been on her way out the door before she changed her mind. That was the coward way out. Georgie may have been a failure, but she wasn't a coward. The least she could do is stand there and tell Dillon to his face. She could have one more argument with him before she broke things off completely.

"And from the look of things…" Dillon looked around the room and sighed. "…you won't be here much longer."

"Dillon, I…" Her mouth hung open, and Georgie thought that maybe she should have just taken the coward's way out. She should have just tucked her tail between her legs and run away. That had to be easier than this. It had to be easier than searching for words that probably didn't exist. Nothing good was going to come out of this.

"I'll give you whatever you want, Dillon," she said finally. "I'll sign whatever papers and I'll be gone. I don't want anything in a divorce. And I know I don't have any right to ask for anything, but if I can, I'd just ask that we not get an annulment. We didn't make our marriage work, but I don't ever want to say that it didn't happen."

"So, that's it. You just… what? Take your things and move back home? My lawyer calls your lawyer?"

"I don't have a lawyer."

"I'm sorry, my lawyer calls Alcazar's lawyer."

And that was why Georgie had already made up her mind that she and Dillon had to completely split. There was no friendly divorce. No being together without being married. Dillon wanted more from her than she was able to give him. He would make his demands, and she wouldn't be able to let him have them. She wasn't going to give up even the slightest friendship with Diego. Not just because she may have loved him, but because she wouldn't let Dillon tell her what to do. She wasn't going to go from a father who ran her life to a boyfriend who did the same thing.

"Dillon, this has nothing to do with Diego, and you know that."

"How can you say that? You wouldn't be leaving me if he hadn't snitched his way out of prison."

"Maybe I wouldn't be saying it now, but I'd have said it eventually. Or you would have said it." She shook her head. "We're too young for this, Dillon. We—I've got no experience in the world, in people, in life! I keep telling Mac that I'm not a kid, but you know what? I am. I'm a teenager who got married for the wrong reasons."

"Our love…" Dillon snorted. "Our love was the wrong reasons. Great, Georgie. Thanks for letting me know for sure just how much that meant to you."

"Don't do this, Dillon." Though her eyes had been wet as she waited for him, tears hadn't fallen for at least an hour. Georgie thought that she didn't have any left, but as Dillon tried to break down their love, what she saw as her first real love, they fell anew. "Don't turn it into that. I loved you, and I still love you, but—"

"But that's not enough for you."

"But I don't know if that's all there is. We both know why we got married. Yes, it was because of love, but that wasn't the defining reason. That wasn't the one thing that said, yeah, we should do this. We did it because you were dying."

"And, I didn't die."

"No, we didn't." Georgie sighed and her body sagged with the exhale. "I'm trying to do the right thing, Dillon, and I'm trying to do it as maturely as possible. I could stand here and point out everything that you've done wrong, but I won't do that."

"You won't be immature, like I am." He snorted again. So angry. There was so much rage on his face, in the tremors that shook his body. She thought again that maybe she should have just left him a note. "All I asked you to do was be committed to me, Georgie. That's all I asked from you."

"That's bull, Dillon, and you know it. You want me to do what you want me to do. You want me to ignore everything that I think or feel so that you can have this idea that we're the perfect couple. We think the same, we act the same, we are the same. But, we're not."

"I want you to be safe! God, Georgie, didn't this whole thing with Diego prove that you're not safe being around him?"

"All it showed me was that I can't count on you. All I needed was for you to support me, Dillon, but you couldn't do that. Your own hatred wouldn't allow you to do that for me. Even now, you aren't asking me to stay. You're just giving me one last fight, a fight that we've had over and over again, before I go."

"You've made up your mind. What good would it do, huh? What good would it do if I dropped down on my knees and begged you to stay? Georgie, we—" He stopped and took a breath. His face went from lines of bitterness to curves of sadness as he choked back a cry and changed directions. "We were supposed to be like Bogart and Bergman. The great loves of each other's lives."

"Dillon, we both know how Casablanca ends. Together forever isn't it." She sighed and shook her head. "This isn't a movie, Dillon. This isn't one of your glorious black and whites where the lovers drive off together. This is real life. This is the real world, and in the real world, we just don't work. Not this close. Not this tight."

"So we don't work married. We don't have to break up, Georgie. We can—"

She shook her head and put a hand up to cut him off. "Don't say it, Dillon. I've already thought about it, and it won't work. We'll still have the same fights, you just can't throw it in my face that you're my husband. You can't beat me over the head with it to get me to do what you want. You can't try to make me into a fifties housewife."

"I wasn't trying to do that."

"Oh, really? Dillon, you put yourself in the wrong movies. You're not from the ones where the leading man is great and loving and self-sacrificing. You're from the ones where the husband lays down the law and his wife obediently obeys. You never get to do anything wrong, but you have, and you will, again."

"And you're not wrong?"

"God, Dillon, I'm so wrong it hurts!" She threw her head back and gave a choked sob, tinged with a bitter laugh. Nothing funny, just the only sound that would put a stop to an impending break down. "But, I apologize, and I admit it. Am I wrong about being friends with Diego? No. I can be friends with whomever I want. Was it wrong of me to lie to you about talking to him when he was in prison? Yeah, Dillon, I was wrong. I should have trusted you enough to tell you that I was doing this. I should have been strong enough. But you—you had no right to snatch a letter from my hand and throw it in the trash! You had no right to tell me what I could and could not do!"

"I was trying to protect you!"

"No, you were trying to make me think like you!" She cried out, a strangled scream, then shook her head. "What happens next time, huh? What happens the next time some guy comes around? Dillon, you're all I've ever known of anything. And what does that leave me with? It leaves me with the one man I've ever been with also being the guy that cheated on me because I wouldn't sleep with him."

"Georgie…"

"No! I don't bring this up at all anymore, but I'm bringing it up just to prove a point. You had your chance with someone else, and you took it. Why? Because she would sleep with you when I wouldn't. You've had your view of other things and I… I've had you. No experiences. No options to choose from. Just you. And if I stay with you, that's all I'll ever have, because while I won't be able to tell you who to see, you'll make sure that any guy who could possibly be anything to me ever is out of my life."

"And so, we're back to Diego." Dillon groaned and shook his head. "We're back to the fact that he's so transparent, it's sick. You had to be the only one in the world that didn't know he had a thing for you, but I bet you do now, don't you?"

"He… He told me."

"Well, about time, huh? And now, you can run off and go live the dangerous life with Alcazar. Isn't that what you want?"

"No, Dillon, that's what you always wanted. The high of somebody's danger. First it was Lorenzo Alcazar's. Now, it's Luke Spencer's. I don't go into things looking for the high. I just go in it looking for happiness and… Dillon, I'm sorry, but I'm not happy with you."

Georgie lowered her head and pushed past. Even when he grabbed her arm, she kept going. Pulling her suitcase along beside her, Georgie jerked her arm free and walked out. There was nothing else to say. There was nothing else that could be done.

Okay, maybe there was one more thing. On the other side of the door, halfway down the hall, Georgie pressed herself against the wall and sobbed one last time for her failed marriage, and the loss of her first love.


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Notes: I would just like to thank everyone who reviewed and enjoyed this story. It's now over. I don't know if I'll come back to Diego and Georgie later, but it's possible. And I know it's not all wrapped up in a neat little bow, but that's not the way I do things. I like to leave things open for interpretation. Thanks again.

* * *

_

'I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be standing up."

Georgie stood in the doorway and watched Diego move around the room. Each step was slow, but they were steps that he was actually taking. She was upset with him for moving when he should have been resting, but after having his blood leaking all over her, she was just glad that he was alive. That he was able to stand up and be hard headed when he should have just listened to his doctors and rested.

At first, Georgie had no intention on going back to the hospital. She had decided that she would wait until Diego was out of the hospital, then see where things went. Hours after the verbal dissolution of her marriage, she shouldn't have been going to see the person who opened her eyes to just how wrong the marriage had been. Had Diego not said he loved her, this wouldn't have been put into motion. Oh hell, had he never left prison and come to see her, this wouldn't have been put into motion.

But, there she was. And it all started with a letter. Georgie took all of her things back home, reorganized her bedroom, and put everything away. Everything except the bag of letters she'd kept hidden that Diego had written her from prison. She let them sit in the middle of the room, waiting to be hidden away in the back of her closet. And that's what she started to do when she picked the bag up. It's what she would have done had her fingers not slipped and the bag fallen to the floor. Had she not picked up the letter that fell out of the bag. Had she not read it, then read the rest of them.

There was so much in those letters that she had missed. Hints at the feelings that Diego had for her. He had said nothing overt in any of them, and before, she just read them as him reaching out to the one person not related to him that still believed he was worthwhile. Reading them afterwards, though, she saw him trying to restrain himself from telling her what he told her in that warehouse. He wasn't just grateful for her friendship. He survived on it, and he survived on the hope that she would one day give him more.

"I couldn't keep laying there. I was bored out of my mind." He looked up at her and sighed. "I didn't think you would come here, again."

"I told you we were friends, Diego. I meant that."

"I haven't seen you in days. I thought you had come to the same conclusion as everyone else. That you're better off without me."

"I…" Her mouth hung open, then her jaw slapped shut. So much happened in those three days that she stayed away, she didn't know where she should start. "Did you change your mind since I wasn't here? Out of sight, out of mind and all that?"

Groaning, Diego sat down on the edge of the bed. He shook his head and sighed. "Nothing will change my mind, Georgie. Yours was the mind that needed to change. Or to process, or whatever."

"Process…" She sighed. "There's a lot to process." Georgie walked to the bedside and sat down slowly. She thought that she probably should have helped Diego lay back down, but since he wasn't moving to do it, she wasn't going to force him. "There's a lot going on."

"I know you talked to my father." Georgie's eyes widened in shock. "He didn't tell me, but my uncle did. Strange, the way we connect in my family. Most things go through my uncle these days."

"Um, what did your uncle say?"

"That my father told you to make a choice. That he asked you to look in your heart. That he tried to warn you off, but for my own good, not yours. I figured you took his advice, and decided to stay away."

"I did a lot of soul searching the past few days. I thought about all of the things that I'd been ignoring since Dillon and I got married. Since before we got married, even. I thought about what you said, and I thought about how I felt and… I came to a lot of really hard conclusions."

"Like?"

"Like, I'm not ready to be married." Georgie sighed heavily and let her head fall back. "I'm too young for the responsibility, and I'm too immature to handle the commitment. Not that I can't be committed," she said, let her head drop forward. "I just—I'm only seventeen, ya know? I've had one boyfriend, I married him… Am I making any sense at all?"

"I think so."

"Good 'cause I don't think I'm making any sense at all to me." She sighed and stood up slowly. Georgie began to pace the room, but kept her back to Diego and her eyes averted from him. Maybe if she didn't have to look at him, she could figure out what the hell she was doing in the first place. Maybe she could just say what needed to be said.

"I left Dillon," she said with a sigh. "I told him that we shouldn't be married, and I gave him all the reasons. I don't think he'll fight me on it. I don't even want anything from him. I just—I can't stay married to him when I don't know for sure that I'm going to love him and just him forever."

"Georgie, will you look at me?"

"No, because if I do, there's no telling what will come out of my mouth, and I'm trying to say something." She walked to the doorway and stopped. Georgie held on to the side of the door and took in a deep breath. "I don't know if I love you or not, Diego. Not the way that you love me."

"But…"

"But, I owe it to myself to find out. I owe it to everybody involved to give it a chance and see where it all goes, ya know? Maybe we were just meant to be friends. Or maybe we were meant to be more. Maybe I was just meant to stand on the sidelines and watch you live your life, or maybe I'm supposed to be like Elizabeth. Maybe I'm supposed to have the courage to stand up to people and tell them that they can't talk to you or your family the way that they do. Maybe I'm supposed to be to you what she is to your uncle."

"Or maybe not, and I've managed to ruin your life by opening my big mouth."

His voice was closer than before, but Georgie didn't know just how close he was to her until she turned around and faced him. He stood a few steps away from her, within reaching distance. He closed the small gap between them slowly, with careful steps. "Maybe," he said, "you've gotta think about all of this 'cause I was selfish. I didn't want to die without ever saying how I felt."

"Diego…" She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Georgie's eyelids fluttered open and she sighed. "You didn't ruin my life. If nothing else, you helped me see just how wrong things were, and how bad they could end up."

"You and Dillon…"

"Were a great teenage romance, and maybe we'll end up back together one day. Or maybe we won't. It's possible that this was just something that I needed to do anyway. No, I know it's something I needed to do. I'm not ready to be married, yet."

"Then what are you ready for?"

"I don't know. My life, I guess. Ya know, I always lived my life for someone else. I got good grades because it made my mom happy. I was a good girl because Maxie already stressed Dad out to the max. And I tried to be whatever Dillon wanted me to be. It's time that I started living for me."

"I'm not asking anything of you, Georgie. Not anything that you don't want to give. If you want to run as far away from me as possible, fine. I won't stop you. If you want to see what we could have together, then I'll be happier than I've ever been. But, before I let you live your life just for you, I have to do something that's just for me."

"What's that?"

Diego's hands shot out faster than she thought he could move. He took hold of her face and before she could even consider pulling away, he kissed her. His lips were crushing pillows against hers. His hands held her in place. Georgie grumbled in shock against his mouth, but she didn't pull away. Her eyes closed. Her hands moved up to hold his shoulders, then up farther to his neck. She slid her hands around to the back of his head and eased her fingers in the folds of his hair.

She should have felt wrong for doing this. The same day that she ended her marriage, ended her entire relationship, she was kissing another man. She should have felt dirty and guilty, but instead, all she felt were butterflies swarming in her stomach. She felt sparks of electricity beneath his lips and in the tips of her toes. She felt alive. And she didn't know if that was because she loved Diego, or if she were just alight to the excitement of finally kissing someone other than Dillon. Either way, she responded to his kiss, and that was enough to say that maybe she really should give this a shot.

Diego pulled back from the kiss, but he still held her face. He lowered her head, then pressed his lips against her forehead. She felt his breath brushing the top of her hair, the edge of her hairline. His hands were so rough, but the touch itself was soft.

At last, Diego stepped back from her and let his shoulders drop. "I love you, Georgie. Whether you love me or not remains to be seen. But that kiss—That kiss and your response tells me that there's something there."

"Yeah," she said softly. He turned and walked back to the bed. Georgie watched him ease himself down, then manuever his body until he was stretched out. He threw the covers over his legs, then let his head fall back on the pillow.

"Whatever you need to do," Diego said, "I understand. You don't have to stay here with me."

"I… I can stay for a while." Tentatively, Georgie crossed the room. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at his hand. He didn't move to touch her. He didn't even acknolwedge that she sat beside him. He didn't move at all until she placed her hand on top of his, and then he looked at her. "I don't have to go just now."

"You don't have to."

"I know," she said with a soft smile. "I want to."

**THE END**


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